B. adopting the Findings of Fact and Statement of Overriding Considerations
in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA);

C. adopting the Mitigation Monitoring Plan (MMP); and

D. adopting the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) as previously approved
by the Metro Board in June 2001 and modified in the FEIS/FEIR Section
2.7 as the Light Rail Build Alternative from Downtown Los Angeles (7th/Metro
Center) to Culver City (Venice/Robertson) incorporating the following
design options:

Venice/Robertson At-Grade Station (at-grade rail crossings of Washington
and National Boulevards).

11/21/05  Good news!
The Culver City City Council voted 4-1 tonight for Councilmember Carol
Gross's motion to request the Metro Board certify the Final EIS/EIR's
aerial design option for the Venice/ Robertson station and the right-of-way
design options east of National (interim station at Wesley), but NOT the
original at-grade option across National and Washington Boulevards.

11/18/05 
The next month is the home stretch for planning of the Expo Line light
rail phase 1 from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City!

Here are the milestones:

Monday, November 21, 7:00 p.m., the Culver City City Council
will review and recommend options for the interim terminus station and
route mitigations for neighbors as specified in the Final EIS/EIR (Environmental
Impact Statement/Report).

Thursday, December 1, 2:30 p.m., the Exposition Metro Line Construction
Authority will make its recommendations.

Leading up to Thursday, December 15, 9:30 a.m., when the Metro
[MTA] Board will certify the Final EIS/EIR for the Expo Line phase
1 and select route options  especially the interim terminus
in Culver City and whether to use Flower Street (5 minutes faster and
better-located) or Hill Street downtown.

First step  all Expo supporters who live
or work in Culver City: Your voices supporting the line in
Culver City are crucial! Please come and speak to Monday's City
Council meeting. If that's not possible, email
the councilmembers (except call Mayor Albert Vera at 310-391-1155
or fax to 310-398-7784).

10/11/05  Expo's Final Environmental
Impact Statement/ Report is released (at last)! You can download it
today from Metro's website,
and paper copies will be available Friday, 10/14.

The document is available in a review period from October 14 through
November 28, 2005. There will be three Community Open Houses in early
November where the public can learn more about the project and comment
on the FEIS/EIR. Workshop details are as follows:

7/29/05  Friends 4 Expo was
on KPCC's Air Talk (89.3 FM)  L.A.’s Transportation
Future: Will we ever get there? Host Larry Mantle will convene a
panel of experts to examine new L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s vision
for the transit system. See www.scpr.org
for more.

7/9/05  Metro Investment
Report
interview with Joel Sandberg on the new Expo Line construction
authority. In this exclusive MIR interview, MTA Transportation Engineer
and Exposition Line Project Manager Joel Sandberg updates MIR readers
on the status of this Light Rail Project. He describes the seven-member
construction authority established to manage the project, as well as on
the advantages of the procurement process being used.

The MTA Board will vote this Thursday on the proposed local funding
plan for the Expo Line (phase 1 to Culver City). Right-click
here to download the full PDF staff report. Here's the summary:

RECOMMENDATION

A. Approve a full funding plan and programming for the Exposition Light
Rail Transit (LRT) Project from Downtown Los Angeles to Robertson Boulevard
in Culver City, not to exceed $640 million, as shown in Attachment A.

B. Seeking $15 million in federal earmarks and $50 million in local
contributions from Cities and/or private parties as part of the full
funding plan for the project.

ISSUE

Our long established direction for the Exposition LRT Project has been
to pursue federal discretionary Section 5309 New Start funds, but also
to provide for a non-New Starts funding alternative, should New Starts
funds not be available in time. Federal Transit Administration (FTA)
requirements to qualify new fixed guideway projects for New Starts funding
have become extensive and more complex, as competition nationwide for
funding has increased significantly. The FTA evaluation process itself
for New Starts also has become more detailed and time-consuming in recent
years. It is now clear to us that a $640 million full funding plan,
without New Starts funding, will be required to complete the Exposition
Project to Robertson on an accelerated schedule for June 2010 completion.

2/24/05  Two MTA
Board items related to Expo: the LaBonge motion on studying underground
rail, and the Antonovich, Fasana and Roberts motion on prioritizing the
Foothill Gold Line.

2/13/05  What's new on Expo?
Where's the Final EIS/EIR? What about federal funding?

The MTA completed the Final EIS/EIR on phase 1 (to Venice/Robertson)
and delivered it to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) last December.
They expected approval to release it, with MTA Board actions to certify
the FEIS/EIR and select route options in January or February, 2005.

It's been delayed, however. Per the new FTA FY-2006
New Starts report, the Expo Line is "Not Rated" because
"FTA is working with LACMTA to update the ridership forecasts."

MTA is working with FTA to resolve their differences. Another possible
outcome is that MTA wouldn't seek federal funding for phase 1, just use
local and state money, including the bonding approved last fall. MTA is
still expecting Board action to finalize route options and certify the
FEIS/EIR this spring, then bid the design/build contract, for completion
in 2009-10.

Support Flower Street vs. Hill Street route option for better
station locations, five minutes faster travel time, and less traffic
impact. (Also, its $32 million greater capital cost will likely be more
than offset by operating cost savings.)

Consider an elevated station in Culver City (the interim
terminus), because it will be needed for any phase 2 route option, given
the congested Culver-Venice-Robertson intersections.

11/28/04  Click for a fascinating
set of photo
maps of the Expo Line phase 1 route!

10/23/04  Over 75 neighbors
and Friends 4 Expo attended this morning's general meeting at Dorsey High
School. Highlights:

Livable Communities presentation  Images of what is special
now about Crenshaw-Leimert Park; of planned redevelopment at Marlton
Square and the former bowling alley; what could be around the Crenshaw
Expo station; and examples of walkable streets, good public spaces,
and authentic sense of place.

Metro [MTA] project update  the consultants showed design
sketches of stations and the right-of-way (New!
 right-click to download 2.1 MB presentation PDF). See
additions under 6/25/04 below for station locations. Downtown
options map. The Final EIS/EIR will be released in November,
with public meetings along the route. The new timeline is for phase
1 construction to start in 2006, with completion 2009-2010.

9/23/04  To accelerate construction
of the Expo Line and four other key projects, the MTA Board approved
selling $1.1 billion in bonds, to be repaid with Proposition C
local sales tax money! Daily News article.
MTA agenda.

9/22/04  The national Rail~Volution
conference came to Los Angeles this year for the first time, featuring
nationally-recognized speakers, tours of L.A. transit and transit-oriented
development, and many panel discussions, for Building Livable Communities
with Transit. Friends 4 Expo Transit was a panelist in the Best
Practices in Advocacy session Tuesday afternoon and co-sponsor of
the Monday evening Non-Profit Unity Event.

9/8/04  The Expo Line and Friends
4 Expo Transit are featured in L.A.
CityBeat this week!

8/3/04  The Mobility
21 Top Ten Traffic Busters announced at the third annual Mobility
21 conference on August 3rd includes Metro Exposition Light Rail
Project (Downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica). More

6/25/04  MTA Expo Line Update

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is reviewing the MTA's draft
Final EIS for Expo Line phase 1 to Culver City. After responding to
FTA's comments, the MTA will release the FEIS for public review in September
or so, and certify it around the end of 2004. It will show the details
of the Transit Parkway design  we'll tell you when it's
available.

Two routes are considered for downtown:

The 2001 Draft EIS route on Hill Street, but going from the existing
Flower Street Blue Line under the elevated I-10 freeway to Hill, then
crossing Washington, because there's not room for more trains on the
Washington Blue Line tracks. Stations unique to this route are 21st
& Hill and Expo & Figueroa.

Continuing down Flower Street, with an underpass below the intersection
of Figueroa and Exposition. This would travel faster, and better serve
the north USC area. Stations unique to this route are 23rd &
Flower, Jefferson & Flower, and Expo east of Trousdale (by the Rose
Garden).

Support the potential local transit sales tax (SB
314), possibly on November 2004 ballot

Host public meetings and participate in community forums and events

11/17/03  Friends 4 Expo participated
in the second annual Mobility
21conference at the Westin Bonaventure, including a panelist
on Building Support for Public Transportation, Highways and Infrastructure
Projects.

11/15/03  The MTA estimated
70,000 daily riders for the Expo Line (43,000 Downtown LA to Culver
City plus 27,000 Culver City to Santa Monica) in the "Fixed Guideway
System Plan and Priorities" staff report to the Planning and Programming
Committee, October 15, 2003, Item 8.

9/18/03 – MTA and their consultants
gave a detailed update on their preliminary engineering work for the Expo
Line at our general meeting. Main points were:

They've been meeting with stakeholders along the three sections of
the route – downtown, Mid-City, and Culver City

Because of capacity limits on Washington Blvd., they've been looking
at alternatives to Hill Street on Flower or Figueroa Streets. The latest
possibility would follow Flower from Exposition up to Adams, then in
the middle of Figueroa past Staples Center to a second surface station
at 7th & Flower. The future Downtown Connector would continue north
from one of these stations.

MTA planners and the DMJM+Harris and ZGF consultants continue to be very
professional, with a great understanding of the Expo Line.

9/13/03 – Two key bills for the Expo
Line just passed the state legislature and await the governor's signature.
Update: both were signed.

To help make up for draconian cuts in the state budget for transportation,
State Senator Kevin Murray has sponsored SB 314,
which (if approved by Los Angeles County voters in 2004) would add a new
1/2-cent sales tax for six years to fund transportation improvements in
the county. Exposition light rail to Santa Monica is at the top of the
list, and would receive $925 million. Other high priority county rail,
bus, and road construction projects to be funded include Crenshaw and
Valley bus Rapidways, extension of the Gold Line east to Irwindale, a
Metro Center Connector between the Blue Line and Gold Line, Red Line extension
to Fairfax, and a number of freeway improvements.

State Senator Sheila Kuehl sponsored SB 504,
to establish a separate Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority to
build the Expo line after MTA has completed its environmental work and
preliminary engineering.

9/8/03 – Average weekday Gold Line
ridership in August was 18,364, with 24,528 on Saturdays and 21,652 on
Sundays. Total boardings in August were 616,542 – a great start for the
Gold Line!

7/28/03 – The Pasadena Gold Line
opened, with an overflow crowd of 70,000 riders both Saturday and Sunday!
MTA Board members Mayor Jim Hahn, Supervisor Mike Antonovich, and Councilman
John Fasana all mentioned Expo as a next step at the opening ceremony
Friday.

1/16/03 – Good news: although the
state's budget cuts will have a major impact on the MTA's projects, the
MTA already had received the first $11 million in funding and has signed
the contract to begin Preliminary Engineering and complete the Final EIS
for Expo phase I during 2003. We're continuing to work with our elected
officials on additional funding.

11/18/02 – Mobility 21: L.A.
County Moving Together conference, cosponsored by the Los Angeles
Area Chamber of Commerce and the MTA. The message is, we need to work
together to bring L.A.'s fair share of funding home.

9/28/02 – Crenshaw "Expo
Expo" at Dorsey High School. Approximately 100 attendees, including
some elected officials and their staff members, plus representatives from
local newspapers, came out to learn more about Expo light rail. Neighbors
who were concerned received good information about the line and took advantage
of the opportunity to talk one-on-one with MTA officials who attended
as guests.

6/21/02 – The Westside Urban Forum
awarded a 2002 Westside Prize to Friends 4 Expo Transit, "For
the organizational ability, perseverance and vigilance of this grass roots
advocate for economical, effective and socially just public transportation
on the Westside."

5/26/02 – You may have seen the Los
Angeles Times's article and editorial
on federal funding for Exposition. In short, the Federal Transit Administration
has proposed releasing to other cities the $155 million in former Red
Line subway money the MTA plans to use for Expo, for the reason that construction
won't begin before the current multi-year federal transportation funding
program ("TEA-21") ends in 2003. Key now is to get our members
of congress to strongly support Expo funding (not just $155 million,
but all the way to Santa Monica) in the federal transportation reauthorization
("TEA-3") next year!

5/16/02 – The California Public
Utilities Commission approved the Pasadena
Gold Line's planned street crossings, allowing the line to be completed
on schedule in 2003!

3/12/02 – Prop. 42 (to reserve
the California sales tax on gasoline for transportation) passed by an
overwhelming 69%, and the Planning and Conservation
League will begin circulating its November 2002 initiative for additional
transportation funding.

12/6/01 – New MTA CEO Roger Snoble
spoke to our general meeting. Mr. Snoble brings a strong vision for the
MTA and a great record of leading the transit agencies in Dallas and San
Diego, including major light rail projects.

11/3/01 – Latest Newsletter
– Recap of October F4ET general meeting on funding, and Action
Alert on the California Public Utilities Commission's Pasadena
Blue Line hearing Monday, 11/5.

10/12/01 – Excellent discussion of
MTA's funding identified for the first section of Expo, and opportunities
for the rest, at our general meeting yesterday.

10/1 – MTA website (click on Public
Hearings) has the transcripts of the eloquent remarks by so many Expo
supporters at the MTA public meetings last May.

10/1/01 – The MTA's August 2001
5309 Report for the Federal Transit Administration projects the
first half of Expo light rail could be built and operating by 2008 with
existing funding, a big improvement over earlier projections.

8/18/01 – Friends 4 Expo is moving
ahead with next steps, including working on additional funding sources.
We will be attending the national Rail~Volution
conference in San Francisco, rescheduled for November 29-December 2.

And some historical perspective, see the beginning of L.A.'s light rail
plans as reported in the L.A. Times in 1982.
Note that the Long Beach Blue Line now carries three times the
then-projected 6.4 million riders; the originally-proposed bare-bones,
largely single-track line couldn't have handled this. Exposition gets
an early mention, as well as doubts about completion of the Wilshire subway.

6/29/01 – MTA Board approved Exposition light rail! Congratulations and thank
you – your support made this happen!! Following 56 supporters
speaking for it, a unanimous vote (10-0) sent the first section to Venice/Robertson
forward toward additional neighborhood mitigation planning, completion
of the Final EIS/EIR, and Preliminary Engineering. This was the biggest
milestone, although much is still ahead to do. Next step: find the
money to build sooner! More

6/20/01 – L.A. City Councilman
Mark Ridley-Thomas' motion of support
for light rail on Exposition passed on a 10-0 vote!

6/18/01 – MTA staff report for the
upcoming Board meeting recommends light rail on Exposition, supporting
a first section from downtown to Venice/Robertson! Upon Board approval,
the MTA would begin Preliminary Engineering, complete the Final Environmental
Impact Statement/Report, and conduct additional community outreach for
neighborhood mitigation along the route.

We support the staff recommendation for Exposition. It's a good
next step for light rail to the Westside, and it will have the MTA work
with communities along the line on its design.

6/10/01 – A lot has been happening
– see Friends 4 Expo Newsletter #5
for details!

5/24/01 – MTA Board unanimously approved
Eastside light rail.

5/20/01 – Many people came by the
Sierra Club / Friends 4 Expo booth at Culver City's "Fiesta La Ballona"
Saturday and Sunday. And at Culver City's Community Survey booth's question
on the Exposition right-of-way, light rail and a bike path were the overwhelming
favorites.

5/15/01 – Excellent turnout of Expo
light rail supporters on the last MTA public meeting! Some 73 people spoke
for light rail, 2 against, and a few others against Wilshire bus lanes,
of the 300 who came to the meeting.

5/6/01 – Robert Scheer in the L.A.
Times Westside Weekly wrote:

Best of all would be a light-rail system from Santa Monica
to the L.A. Civic Center that would hoop up with existing and proposed
lines. The Westside is now a major job magnet and light rail would facilitate
folks getting to work without using their cars. ... Some day, as in any
civilized city, we should be able to hop a train to the Music Center without
befouling the environment or sacrificing our sanity.

5/6/01 – The L.A. Times editorial,
"Into the Home Stretch" noted:

Not even the mayor can escape the city's impossible traffic.
Both Hahn and Villaraigosa support more buses and a new light-rail line
from near the USC campus to the beach.

4/19/01 — The MTA mailed a flier
called "Rapid Bus and Beyond". It incorrectly states
that light rail capital costs are $75 million per mile vs. busway
at $10 to 20 million per mile. The Mid-City/Westside Draft EIS/EIR
shows quite different figures (which are consistent with other recent
projects):

4/6/01 — MTA released the long-awaited
Draft EIR/EIS on Exposition and Wilshire, and the entire document
is now available on the MTA website. See also the MTA
press release. We'll be adding its content and our commentary to this
website—projected ridership for light rail vs. busway is already
updated on the Criteria page, for example.
See excerpts on Expo BRT and LRT operating characteristics
and traffic impacts.

This document confirms the superiority of light rail, including
excellent ridership (51,400 per day), greater speed,
and the greatest environmental and traffic benefits. Its light
rail travel time and costs are consistent with other lines; but its Expo
BRT projected speed (and therefore ridership and operating costs) is inconsistent
with its other limitations (less than 2-minute headways and no safe 55
mph at-grade crossings).

3/30/01 —The 2000 U.S. Census detailed
population results for California were released. See updates on the Population
page here.

3/25/01 — How light rail can be a
good neighbor in Culver City — see Facts about light rail and Culver
City near the top of the Neighbors page.

1/21/01 — See some new links on the
Links page, especially "Roadkill Bill"....

1/20/01 — "Want to buy that
$600,000 two-bedroom "starter" house a couple of blocks from
the train station? The real estate people say you'd better make that offer
right now." San Francisco-area commuters are seeking homes near transit....
San
Francisco Chronicle 12/18/00

12/7/00 —Dedicated Friends 4 Expo
members reported on all of their new community outreach at tonight's
meeting. Our mission is to tell as many individuals and groups as possible
about the Expo Line opportunity in the next couple of months. The MTA
expects to release their draft Environmental Impact Report in late February,
2001, and the MTA Board could vote on what option to select in April.

11/30/00 — An overflow crowd of over
100 people spoke overwhelmingly in support of light rail along Exposition
and other L.A. rail transit in the MTA's public meeting on its Long
Range Transportation Plan at the Westside Pavilion! For information
about future meetings, contact Christina Cobb or Stella Kim at the Robert
Group at 213-381-5700.

11/8/00 —Mostly great election results
for transit:

Santa Clara County (California) measure A, to extend BART to San
Jose, expand light rail throughout Santa Clara County, and electrify
Caltrain — by continuing their 0.5 cent sales tax — was approved by
a landslide 70%! Companion Alameda county measure B was approved by
more than 80%.

Salt Lake County (Utah) measure 1, for more light rail lines and
buses — by an extra quarter-cent-per-dollar sales tax increase — was
approved with about 58 percent of the vote.

Sadly, Cap Metro light rail for Austin Texas fell just shy of passing
(although receiving a 57% majority within the city of Austin). Supporters
are optimistic of next-round success.

10/14/00 — Transit ridership was
up another 4.3%, the American Public Transportation
Association (APTA) announced for the second quarter of 2000. "Increased
use of public transportation is enhancing peoples’ lives as well as our
communities," said William W. Millar, APTA President.

7/7/00 — The transportation budget
bill passed in Sacramento and signed by Governor Davis retains his proposed
funding for the Eastside and Exposition. Specific provisions include:

Blue Line to Los Angeles; new rail line Pasadena to Los Angeles
in Los Angeles County. Forty million dollars ($40,000,000).

Los Angeles Eastside Transit Extension; build new light rail line
in East Los Angeles, from Union Station to Atlantic via 1st Street
to Lorena in Los Angeles County. Two hundred thirty-six million dollars
($236,000,000).

7/5/00 — Los Angeles Red Line
passengers nearly doubled in the first week of service to North Hollywood!
The subway averaged 65,150 daily boardings in the month of May.
Ridership on the expanded subway after one week has surged to an average
of 120,516 daily boardings, an 85 percent increase.

6/18/00 — Houston Chronicle columnist
Ken Hoffman visited five cities with light rail to answer, "Does
light rail work, is it clean, and does it get you where you want to go?
And how come Dallas has it and we don't?"

6/16/00 — "Last year, Americans
took more than 9 billion trips on public transportation, the highest
ridership in nearly four decades. ... Last year, public transportation
ridership increased by 4.5 percent over 1998...." APTA
announcement

5/25/00 — The 5/23 MTA meeting (in
the all-windows rooftop room at the Peterson Museum) was well attended.
In open-house format, its two main displays were large photo-maps with
the routes (Wilshire BRT and Expo LRT/BRT) shown with colored tape, and
cross-section computer illustrations of different locations along the
lines. Nothing yet about grade separations, running time, etc., and station
locations were only preliminary dots on the map.

One neighbor put it vividly at an MTA community meeting:

"I could walk to the station and ride
to Staples Center, or to Santa Monica. It would change the way I feel
about Los Angeles."

4/2/00 — A group of East Los Angeles
College architecture students showed their wonderfully creative
designs for Eastside light rail stations today in Boyle Heights. The
ELAC students were asked to design the stations not merely as shelters,
but as "linear museums" that would communicate the history,
culture and other aspects of the community.

3/23/00 — The MTA Board approved
doing an EIR for Exposition, for both busway and light rail, with
a detour along Venice and Sepulveda Boulevards, at its March 23 meeting!

3/22/00 — What lessons from the Curitiba
model are applicable to a city like Los Angeles? There are important details
not covered in most articles. For example, their 12 mph, standing-room-only,
double-length diesel buses cover routes much shorter than L.A.'s — only
about six miles long. Details

3/15/00 — Continuing the popularity
of light rail in other U.S. cities, Phoenix voters overwhelmingly
approved Proposition 2000, a .4% sales tax for light rail and improved
bus service, on March 14!

2/24/00 — MTA voted:

To defer selection of Westside options for EIR study until March
MTA meeting, for clarification of whether Exposition corridor would
qualify for the Federal funds that were allocated to the Red Line extension
to Pico/San Vicente. This startled the many Exposition supporters who
came to speak!

Approved a motion to seek state funding for all three corridors and
that all three corridors should move forward together.

After lengthy discussion, approved EIR study of light rail to Eastside
with tunnel under Boyle Heights (Option 6), but added a busway option
over the strong objections of MTA Board members Molina, Oropeza, and
Fasana and the numerous Eastside elected officials who spoke unanimously
for light rail.

Approved EIR study of a Valley busway along Burbank-Chandler.

Approved a motion that the "Wilshire corridor cannot be supplanted
by the Exposition corridor" — reason given was to protect the Federal
Full Funding Grant Agreement.